The story of Craig and Katie White’s journey to find each other is a story worthy of being told on Valentine’s Day, which they are spending together as husband and wife for the first time this year.

Both were born, raised, and attended school in Jones County. As an eighth-grader, Craig recalls watching Katie, then a senior, practice basketball. It seems she was an impressive player.

“I remember wishing I could just kiss her one time,” he said.

Katie did not remember him.

The couple did not see each other from 1974 until Katie joined the housing committee in 2012. They were married Dec. 29, 2012, at Jordan Chapel.

In an interview last week, Katie said she grew up in Haddock, and her maiden name was Reeves. She worked for Brown and Williamson and stayed with the company when it merged with R.J. Reynolds in 2004. Katie married in 1979, had two children, and divorced in 2000 after 21 years of marriage.

When the companies merged, she moved to North Carolina and shortly after began having health issues. She eventually had open-heart surgery and got an offer to return to Georgia where her daughters and grandchildren were living in 2011.